Reports reaching Adom News indicates that the Ghana Olympics Committee has suspended two of its members in connection with the visa racketeering scandal which has hit Ghana’s participation in the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
The suspended members’ names have been given as Hussein Addy and Christine Ashley.
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About 50 Ghanaians who claimed to be journalists have been deported from Australia after failing to convince immigration officials that they were journalists.
Asempa and Adom Sports sources indicate that one of the deportees has alleged that they paid monies amounting to 11,000 US dollars to some unnamed officials of the GOC and the Sports Ministry.
The decision to suspend the two officials is said to be the first step in unraveling the mystery, according to the source.
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In a related development, President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Affail Monney, has, in a statement, “distanced itself” from some 50 Ghanaians who allegedly acquired visas as journalists .
Mr. Monney said the individuals in question are neither known to the Association nor are their media outlets known, adding that the police should investigate the matter and arrest those behind the act.
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Affail Monney added that the deportation of the alleged journalists from Australia has the tendency to soil the image of Ghanaian journalists in particular and Ghana as a whole.
He also advised Ghanaian journalists travelling outside the country for official assignments to follow the requisite protocols of their host countries and event organisers in order to avoid embarrassment.
C'wealth Games visa scandal: GOC suspends 2 as GJA pushes for arrest of ‘fake’ 50 journalists
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